It’s important
to keep your focus when you’re testing a boat, but I must admit that
I found doing that a challenge with the NauticBlue 464 power catamaran.
Not because I’m particularly fond of catamarans. Rather the potential
distraction I had to grapple with was the test venue: the Virgin Islands.
NauticBlue runs a charter company based on St. Thomas which serves both
the American and British Virgins, as well as a base in the Abacos, Bahamas.
It also sells the four-cabin 464 and three-cabin version called the 463
to buyers who agree to lease them back to the company for charter. (See
“Advantageous Ownership,” this story.)

Fortunately, I signed
on for only three days instead of the full-week charter, so I was able
to keep my mind on my business most of the time despite the tropical distractions.
And that 72 hours gave me enough time to wring out this boat—none
of the “the calm waters on test day didn’t allow me to test
the boat’s seakeeping” stuff we’re so often saddled with.

The 464/463 is a displacement-style
catamaran, which means it offers efficiency, a smooth ride, and a relatively
shallow draft (3'8"). Yet our test boat was no slouch when it came
to speed. NauticBlue claims a 464 powered by twin 370-hp Yanmar diesels
has a top speed of 24 knots. The best I saw was 19.5 knots, but my boat
was loaded down with four adults, about 800 pounds of gear, and enough
provisions for a week. (We weren’t exactly careful shoppers.) Plus,
I suspect there was something amiss with our boat’s powertrain. More
of that in a moment.

The Yanmars are mounted
almost all the way aft in each of the catamarans’ hulls, thanks to
V-drives. The principal benefits of this setup are more interior volume
and quiet. The maximum sound level I recorded on the bridge was just 77
dB-A (65 dB-A is the level of normal conversation), and most of that was
water noise. Impressively, readings were virtually identical at the lower
station. The V-drives also provide a nine-degree shaft angle, which in
concert with relatively small props (22"x31") and propeller
pockets help produce the moderate draft.

Add these features to
the catamaran’s inherent smoothness, which comes courtesy of the
air cushion formed between her hulls, and you have a fine cruising boat.
The tradewinds that bathe the Virgins gave us plenty of chop to test the
464’s seakeeping, and she did well on every point; when the three-
to four-footers were on her nose, they were virtually undetectable. She
was not terribly dry, again courtesy of the catamaran design that can
trap spray between the hulls and blow it back forward and up onto the
windshield, a phenomenon know as “cat pant.” NauticBlue says
it has since modified the angle of the windshield, which should significantly
reduce spray.